Napoli: We avoided Cristiano Ronaldo signing due to bankruptcy risk

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has revealed that the Serie A club were offered Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo before he joined Juventus, but decided against signing him because such a mega money transaction would render the club bankrupt.

The 33-year-old joined Juve on a four-year contract that will see him pocket €30 million per season after they agreed to pay Real Madrid €100m plus €12m more in additional charges.

De Laurentiis has admitted that he had the chance to reunite Ronaldo with former Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti but felt it would have been financially disastrous for the club.

“Ronaldo had also been offered to Napoli,” he confirmed to La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“I called his agent, Jorge Mendes. We also formulated our offer and we would have paid Ronaldo with a percentage on the subsequent profits guaranteed by his arrival.

“The €350 million that Juventus will invest is beyond our reach, we would have risked pushing the club towards bankruptcy.”

Ronaldo spent nine seasons at the Bernabeu, where he scored 311 goals in 292 league appearances for Los Blancos.

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